ERS conducts research on USDA's child nutrition programs, including the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Child and Adult Care Food Program, Summer Food Service Program, and After-School Snacks and Suppers.

The Food Dollar Series measures annual expenditures by U.S. consumers on domestically produced food and is composed of three primary series. Nominal (current year) and real data are now available from 1993 to 2016.

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In FY 2017, expenditures on USDA’s 15 domestic food and nutrition programs totaled $98.6 billion, 4 percent less than in the previous fiscal year and almost 10 percent less than the historical high of $109.2 billion set in FY 2013.

This report discusses February 2018 USDA forecasts for U.S. agricultural trade in FY2018. Exports are forecast at $139.5 billion in FY2018 and imports are expected to reach $118.5 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $21.0 billion.

The rural population is shrinking due to outmigration of young adults, fewer births, increased mortality among working-age adults, and an aging population. Rural job growth since 2011 has been well below the urban growth rate.

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March 15, 2018 3:00 PM

The Food Assistance Landscape: FY 2017 Report

This report uses preliminary data from USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service to examine trends in U.S. food and nutrition assistance programs through fiscal 2017. It also summarizes two recent ERS reports: one on trends in the prevalence and se...

March 14, 2018 3:00 PM

Sugar and Sweeteners Outlook: March 2018

The food dollar data series is composed of three primary series—the marketing bill series, the industry group series, and the primary factor series—that shed light on different aspects of the food supply chain. Nominal (current year) and re...

U.S. manufacturing employment has been declining since the 1950s. A better understanding of the factors affecting the survival of rural manufacturing plants may help develop strategies to retain these jobs.

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has undergone economic, social, and demographic transformations over the past 10 to 15 years. Among the poorest regions in the world, it faces major political and economic challenges and low food security.

U.S. agricultural exports have historically exceeded imports, leading to trade surplus

The United States has had a surplus in agricultural trade every year since 1959. Agricultural exports have accounted for 10 to 11 percent of total U.S. exports in recent years, while agricultural imports accounted for about 5 percent of total imports. The result is that agriculture has become a reliable trade surplus sector, but the size of the surplus has varied greatly recently. U.S. imports generally have tended to rise more smoothly because the United States has a developed, stable economy with a preference for out-of-season goods and high-value items. Meanwhile, the country’s major export commodities include soybeans, corn, and wheat. These crops have trade figures that tend to fluctuate more in response to price changes because there is little to differentiate between the U.S. and its competitors’ raw goods, compared to higher value processed products. This chart appears in the ERS Amber Waves data feature, U.S. Agricultural Trade in 2016: Major Commodities and Trends, released in May 2017.